khajidont | MoM IC Contact

[Experience with it this long runs through his mind. Tadashi isn't looking at Jaime, instead running a few quick calculations in his mind - the feel of the electric charges he felt along with what he knows he feels in his own comm.

No. No, it's not a phone. He shakes his head slowly, still distracted by the lingering feeling in his fingertips.]

Bigger than a phone. More complex, too.

[It's a good thing that Tadashi isn't looking at Jaime, because he's starting to look a little nervous. He's not horribly opposed to Tadashi knowing a little more about him at some point, but today's not the day to have the wonderful talk about him having alien technology in his spine that was supposed to make him into a monster -- and, as he's learned, succeeds at some indeterminate point in the future.

It's just kind of an awkward conversation to have, every time he has it. He can't help but feel a little curious, though, as to exactly what Khaji feels like. He knows how electronics feel to him, but the way he experiences them must be so different from the way a technopath does.]

So, uh... what does it feel like?

[That is the question, isn't it? If he can nail down what exactly it feels like, then he can hazard a guess at what he thinks it is. Nevermind that Jaime... might not want Tadashi trying to guess at it; it's a puzzle and it's tech, Tadashi has to know more about it. In some ways, he's a lot more like his little brother than he'd care to admit.

He rubs his thumb and forefinger together, brows furrowing as he considers it. Though it definitely felt like there was a source, the pieces weren't all centralized there. It was flowing evenly, like Jaime was the tech himself. But Jaime's not a cyborg or android (that he knows of? Who knows!) so that doesn't fit right. On top of that, it had more spark than regular tech. Usually he can feel whatever the tech he's touching feels, like an extension of himself. But this felt like... some other kind of entity altogether, like he felt the distant tips of a personality, but he's not sure.

A piece of that dream they had flashes back into his mind, that aliens had put some kind of tracker in Jaime. He can't help but wonder now how much of that had been just a dream and how much had been based in reality.]

Like there's something in you. Deep, whatever it is.

[It occurs to him that Jaime probably knows what it is and is probing to see how much Tadashi just figured out.]

...Ri-iight. [Jaime's not even thinking about the dream, or about how Tadashi could put two and two together to realize exactly what alien technology Jaime has inside of him. He forgets just how much he wound up giving away, back there, and the predominant image in his mind is that of Tadashi's death; the whole Reach thing sort of fell by the wayside. Tadashi never mentioned it, and as far as Jaime's concerned, that's totally fine by him.

He's definitely fidgeting now, pushing his fingers together as he tries to think up a good way of explaining away what Tadashi's got the finger on the pulse of what's inside of him, and what has always been inside of him for as long as they've known each other.

Ugh. Technopaths.]

...like the, uh, nanotech?

[Dumb mislead. They all have nanotech inside them.]

No, different from that. Nanotech's barely a buzz, this is bigger.

[Much bigger.

Sorry he's too smart for his own good, Jaime.

But his friend's hesitance has him a little worried now. Will Jaime get in trouble if someone finds out about whatever's in him? What if he's putting his friend in danger questioning him like this?]

I-- I'm sorry, uh.

Before, in the dreams. You mentioned something about a tracker. Is... That what that is? Or something like it?

Or something.

[Jaime lets out a sigh that is, perhaps, just a touch exaggerated. It's not that big of a deal to tell Tadashi about Khaji, but it's never a conversation he particularly enjoys. Even those who know that he's the Blue Beetle tend to treat Khaji with more than a little trepidation, as an aberration instead of a part of him. Tadashi's friendship with Magicman suggests that he won't feel the same way, but it's still uncertain ground, especially when Jaime can't wave it off as aliens and pretend like he's not scared of them.

He rubs at the back of his neck.]

I mean, technically it is a tracking device, but mostly, it's an AI.

Oh.

[.... OH.

That actually explains a lot.

He can only take what he saw in the dream with a grain of salt but an AI? And the bit of it being alien is likely true as well, but he won't assume much else unless Jaime tells him. He at least has the decency to not look at jaime yet, still, not while he mentally adjusts what he knows now with what he felt.]

That makes more sense.

Yeah, you caught me. It's a little bigger than nanotech.

[A lot bigger, in fact, and with its own very rich, and occasionally, very violent inner life. It is what it is. Jaime adores Khaji, but he's understandably wary about who knows about him, and how much. He knows he can trust Tadashi, though.

The grin he flashes at Tadashi is a little uneasy, but not entirely false.]

You've probably guessed already, but me having him is a secret, so... don't tell anyone?

No kidding. I probably would've never realized if I'd kept my limiter around.

[He gives him back an equally apologetic smile. He didn't mean for him to find out something Jaime's kept secret for probably good reason.]

You got it. I'm good at secrets.

Most people don't.

[It may make a few other things make more sense, however, in retrospect. The mumbling that Jaime did when he was asleep, how it'd sound like he talked to himself in the shower, the way he'd duck off with the excuse of having a phonecall to make at least once, if not twice a day... Jaime's nothing if not willing to act a little odd for the sake of Khaji to have some conversation that doesn't take the form of text.]

...y'know, I was kinda wondering if you even remembered that dream, [he has to confess.] I'm sorry you did.

[Especially since he got to die there too. Whoops.]

[He does feel a little guilty. Like he cheated and found out before Jaime was ready to tell him, if he was going to at all. But the pieces all fit easily enough together and that's all the questions he has about it. Maybe once things settle down, he'll be more inclined to ask.

At the mention of the dreams, he rubs at the back of his neck.]

...Yeah, wasn't sure if you did either. I remember 'em all.

[Jaime remembers them all too. Or, at least, he thinks he does. He supposes there's no way to remember whether or not you remember everything, and considering how awful his dreams had been? He's pretty darn glad for whatever ones wound up being left out.

He stretches his legs out in front of him, unsure of what to say, or how to say it. Hey man, sorry you died? Hope you weren't conscious while I was crying like a baby? Or maybe, hey, so could we forget about the whole alien invasion thing?

Nope, nope and nope. Instead, he just sort of shrugs.]

I think I do too.

[He's a scintillating conversationalist.]

[Annnnd they've successfully moved away from Jaime's AI and the problem with Hiro.

Stealth conversationalists, these two.

He settles back down finally settling on some random movie - it looked quiet anyway, good for mindless background noise.]

I'm pretty sure I had some okay ones, though. Right at the start, I mean.

Oh yeah?

[Jaime didn't. It went from green peppers with Ken straight down into death and destruction. He wishes that that weren't the case, because the last time everyone jumped into each other's dreams, he'd had plenty of perfectly lovely dreams, the sort that he usually had.

He's sort of stopped having lovely dreams, but he's pretty sure Tadashi's got it worse, so he's got no business complaining about that to anyone. If it gets too bad, maybe he'll take Khaji up on his offer to just conk him out. God bless AIs with full control over all his bodily functions.]

Like what?

[He isn't sure how long those dreams actually went on - maybe he only had the nice ones for a few hours before three days of horribleness. Or maybe the other way around. It's hard to tell with sleep like that. But there really had been some nice ones.

He's quiet for a moment, thinking to the best one and a little smile creeps onto his face.]

Dreamed about our parents. Last birthday they got to celebrate with us, uh. Hiro I think walked into that one.

[Fitting, since the last birthday they celebrated as a full family was Hiro's third.]

Oh yeah?

[That's sort of sad, he thinks, knowing that Tadashi and Hiro's parents aren't with them anymore, but as long as Tadashi can see it as a happy dream instead of a reminder of what he's lost, who is he to argue? So he'll smile right back at him, willing to be happy for his friend, even about something he isn't altogether equipped to understand.]

Was it the Hiro that was still little, or was he... [Jaime sort of chops at the air with one hand, at around how tall Hiro is now.

It's still not very tall.]

[Okay that he laughs at a little.]

No, no, it was Hiro like he is now. It's... [Mmm.] It was nice, he never. Really got to know them, so. Even if it was a dream, it was kind of his first time ever... really seeing them.

That's why I was wondering. Have you talked to him about it since? To make sure that he remembers the dreams too? I mean, most of them were bad, but something like that...

[He wishes, momentarily, that Ken would have gotten that luxury, to see his mother's face again.]

Well, that's worth remembering.

...Hasn't really come up, no.

[And now they've come full circle back to the problem at hand. If they decide to let it go that way.]

I hope he remembers it... I think he saw a lot of my memories, that part's a little fuzzier. [He remembers a room with a lot of photos. Maybe. Or maybe he's contradicting himself so he doesn't have to admit the worse dreams.]

Maybe after this is all done, you and him can talk about it. Sharing that part about your guys' dreams isn't so bad.

[He leans forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. They're kind of dancing around the topic at hand, but somehow, it's easier that way.]

I think your dreams were connected the whole time.

[They'll come back around to it eventually, when Tadashi doesn't feel bad about bullying Jaime into answering his prodding.

Nevermind it wasn't really bullying or prodding.]

Yeah? What makes you think that?

Because I was in both of your dreams. We were in the cafe both times, and when I went upstairs, I was with Hiro. When I went downstairs, I was with you, but after we went back up, they... met in between? You guys must be pretty in sync, or something.

[Two peas in a pod, these boys. It's sad, considering, but there's something to it. It's good to have someone you're so close to, even if you had to lose them.

Hopefully Hiro can regain what he's lost.]

[That's... almost endearing? In a really strange way, if someone cared about dreams like that. Tadashi's definitely a straightforward thinking sort of guy though. Still...]

I had no idea. That's... [Weird? Adorable?] Interesting.

[He's quiet while he considers a question he's had for a while.]

In my dream. Before you saw me what all did you see?

[He doesn't actually know what was outside the door before Jaime opened it. It could've been anything before Tadashi's consciousness was aware of the stairs going up.]

Didn't you see before you went downstairs?

[It's a rhetorical question, though, because Jaime intends to answer. He falls silent first, trying to collect his memories in the most coherent way he can. It's important to get this right, he thinks, because of how personal their dreams had wound up being.]

There was a room full of pictures, and videos. Some of 'em were messed up, but I'm pretty sure they must have been of your friends and family? They looked happy, anyway. And there was a crashed car in the kitchen, for some reason. Other than that, the only other thing you wouldn't have totally seen was the stairs that was made out of coding? I talked to them for a little while.

[He listens and ... it all makes sense, as far as dream logic goes. He knows the crashed car, won't comment on that.]

You talk to it?

[Wait.]

Dream, right, right...

[All it does is make him circle back to wanting to ask Jaime about his AI. He isn't sure that's on the table to talk about yet. He'll just sip his drink instead until the conversation goes somewhere else.]

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